Friends Who Are Going

Friends Attending

Friends Attending

Friends Attending

Description

Look at the following question, which is the first answer that comes to mind?

A bat and a ball cost €1.10 in total. The bat costs €1 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? You have a number in mind – and that number is 10 Cent, right? Well, the point of this puzzle is that it evokes an answer that is intuitive, appealing and wrong. Do the math and you will see.

Like in this puzzle a part of our brain constantly makes lots of intuitive decisions that go widely unnoticed by us. These decisions help us reduce complexity. However, the unconscious part of our brain is not neutral: we have loads of biases hardwired into our brains. If you have a brain, you are biased. We all are.

Our biases lead to preferences for people who are similar to us; suspicion of those who are different and a tendency to save mental energy by using stereotypes to fill in the blanks. Unconsciously, we make decisions about others based on what feels safe, familiar, likeable and competent to us. However, pretty often these decisions prevent us from engaging with a diverse set of people and trying new ways. In order to foster diversity and create a culture in which a diverse set of talents can thrive, it is worthwhile to learn about unconscious bias to make more conscious decisions.

The workshop provides insight into how our brain works and how we make decisions. It gives examples of where unconscious bias comes into play and allows us dive deeper into the field of diversity. The interactive approach creates a space to develop ideas to reduce unconscious bias and integrate these tools into our work.